It’s been a long time coming, but a huge wrong has finally been righted with the recent release of Ozzy Osbourne’s first two metal classics, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman. I’m talking of course about the restoration of the original bass and drum parts as recorded by Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake, respectively.

So in honor of these most excellent re-releases, let’s enjoy the vintage ’80s metal cheese of the Diary of a Madman cover.

I guess I can kind of see why some people got up in arms over the imagery on Ozzy’s albums, but to me this is nothing but pure escapist fun. The whole thing is obviously an homage of sorts to vintage horror movies, right down to the B-movie title font.

The set for this cover was designed by Ernie Spruces and Denise Richardson (no, not that one). The delightfully cheesy makeup was by Cheryl Hubbard, and overall design is credited to Steve “Skull” Joule. Finally, photography is credited to Fin Costello and Tony Harrison.

Related articles

• Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne Talk About “Diary Of A Madman” (metalunderground.com)
• Ozzy Osbourne: 30th Anniversary Collector’s Editions (Review) (popmatters.com)

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